UPDATE, via the AP: Peterson is scheduled for an MRI late Saturday after taking a direct hit to his left knee in Saturday's 33-26 win over the Washington Redskins. Coach Leslie Frazier said Peterson had a sprained knee and would be evaluated after the team returned to Minnesota.

Peterson said he knew "it was something bad" the moment he was hit and that he was in "severe pain" on he lay on the field. He was hurt on a tackle by Redskins safety DeJon Gomes on a 3-yard gain on the first offensive play of the second half.

Peterson took a handoff on first and 10 and cut back to the left side of the field. When Redskins rookie safety DeJon Gomes tackled him, Peterson's left leg caved in and he fell to the ground in obvious pain.

After trainers looked at the running back's leg, he was carted off from the field.

Things didn't get much better for the Vikings after that, as rookie quarterback Christian Ponder suffered a concussion -- he's out for the remainder of the game as well.Follow all the Week 16 action live: Inactives | Scoreboard

The phrase "Cam Newton set a rookie record" isn't something that's brand new, because he's been doing it all year long. But on Carolina's first drive against Tampa Bay, Newton set his biggest record yet, breaking Peyton Manning's mark for passing yards in a single season by a rookie.

Manning threw for 3,739 yards in 1998 and with 20 passing yards on the Panthers first drive, Newton jumped him to put himself at 3,742 yards on the year.

Of course, Cam's still got three full quarters of action against the Buccaneers as well as a Week 17 matchup against the Saints, so it's likely the new record will be north of 4,000 yards.

The Panthers are sitting at just five wins (though they lead the Buccaneers early in the first quarter), but Newton's the reason why there's optimism all over Charlotte when it comes to the state of professional football.

Perhaps the most remarkable thing about this record, though, is how hotly debated the decision to draft Newton first in the 2011 NFL Draft was. With the benefit of 20/20 hindsight, it's clear that there wasn't ever really a decision at all.

In fact, Newton's near the end of perhaps the greatest rookie season by a quarterback we've ever seen.

4 p.m. ET games: SD-DET | PHI-DAL | SF-SEAPrepare to get angry, NFL fans who already think games are over-officiated. According to CBS Sports NFL insider Charley Casserly, the league prefers that officials "err on the side of caution when penalizing a player for a defenseless hit."

"Furthermore," Casserly said Saturday on The NFL Today, "they've also been told that they will not be downgraded if they make a mistake in this area. The reason: the NFL does not want [them] to hesitate on making this kind of call.

"Now personally, I disagree with this," Casserly said. "When I was on the competition committee, we told the officials: 'If you see it, call it. If you don't see it, don't think that you saw it. Don't call it in that situation.' Our feelings: let fines alter behavior."

With all of the controversial calls this season regarding defenseless players being hit, Charley Casserly spoke with James Brown about what is being done to solve this ongoing issue.

4 p.m. ET games: SD-DET | PHI-DAL | SF-SEASaturday's finally here, which means the Giants and Jets are done with the gum-flapping and they can get down to, you know, actual football. Both teams have plenty to play for; a Giants win means the Eagles are out of the postseason hunt and next week's matchup with the Cowboys will be huge. The Jets, meanwhile, will maintain their hold on the No. 6 seed with a victory before they head to Miami for the regular-season finale.

The two sides went back and forth in the media before Revis' teammate, Antonio Cromartie, made this observation: "You got guys that are not even Pro Bowl material... Who really cares what they have to say?” Adding these sentiments for Mario Manningham: "He let a guy named Victor Cruz come in and take his job."

When the Giants' offense takes the field for the first time against the Jets defense Sunday, Manningham won't be out there. And not just because he's the third wide receiver but because he's been declared inactive with a sore knee.

We'll have to see if is absence will make a difference in the outcome, but for now, Cromartie: 1, Giants WRs: 0.

Bad news: it's not clear those people are in the Browns' organization.

A year after starting 13 games as a rookie and showing glimpses of potential, McCoy headed into 2011 with a new head coach and expectations. It's been a rough four months; the Browns' offense has been predictable and inept, the team has managed just four wins through 15 weeks, and McCoy, who suffered a concussion against the Steelers two weeks ago, has yet to return to the field.

And there's a chance that, two seasons and 21 starts into his career, he may find himself out of chances in Cleveland.

"I know people are saying, 'Is this guy a player?' but there's a lot of things to like about him," said CBS Analyst and former NFL quarterback Rich Gannon, via the Cleveland Plain-Dealer's Mary Kay Cabot. Gannon has studied most of McCoy's games this season and will be calling Sunday's game against the Ravens where Seneca Wallace will make his second consecutive start. "I mean, there's something about him that makes me think he's got a chance. I like him. ...

"People don't understand that you've got develop the quarterback position," Gannon said. "We're making a huge mistake in the NFL with these young guys. These coaches come in and say, 'He's not my guy, I want to get rid of him,' and then they bring another guy in. Then it takes a couple of years to develop that guy. Meanwhile, they fire that head coach, and the next guy comes in. It's a terrible cycle."

There could be the slim possibility that McCoy gets another chance at the starting gig. USC quarterback Matt Barkley announced last week that he was returning to college for his senior season, foregoing the NFL Draft where he would almost certainly be a top-10 selection. That means the Browns, Redskins and Dolphins -- all teams in desperate need of a franchise quarterback -- will either have to move forward with the status quo or try to find a stopgap via free agency or a trade.

"When you have a talented kid like Colt who can do some things, you put your arm around him like [coach] Jim Harbaugh did with Alex Smith and show him some love," Gannon said. "You tell him you believe in him and that you trust him, and that you're going to win this thing together. Now you're seeing a different guy in Alex Smith. He has five interceptions this year. He's not throwing 40 touchdowns [Smith has thrown for 16], but he's playing winning football."

The Broncos play in Buffalo Sunday where temperatures will be in the in the low 30s with a chance for flurries. Pretty mild for the region this time of year. But for Denver quarterback Tim Tebow, who grew up in Jacksonville, Florida and played in Gainesville, at the University of Florida, it will be the coldest game he's started in his tackle football career -- going back to his high school days.

"I've never worn sleeves, but I've been wearing sleeves in practice this week to try to get used to that," Tebow said according to the Denver Post's Jef Legwold and Tom Kensler. "I won't wear a glove, maybe on my right hand, but not on my (left) hand. I don't plan to, anyway."

Tebow thought he had played in lower temperatures in college when the Gators faced the Gamecocks in South Carolina. Turns out, it was in the 50s at kickoff before the mercury fell into the 40s by the time it was over.

"He's practiced out here for almost two years now, so I think he's had his share of inclement weather," Broncos coach John Fox said. "I don't foresee that being a problem."

A Denver win coupled with a Raiders loss against the Chiefs would secure the AFC West and most likely a home playoff game against the Steelers in the wild-card round. The Bills, meanwhile, are expecting an empty stadium (local blackouts are in effect), which is what happens when you're on a seven-game losing streak.

That's according to Matt Mosley of Fox Sports Southwest, who says Felix will "not play a snap" against the Eagles unless the Cowboys are playing to win the division. Even then, according to Mosley, he's "50-50." (Mosley added that "there is no upside to starting" Felix in fantasy.)

Here's how this whole thing works: if the Eagles beat the Cowboys, the Giants lose to the Jets, and the Giants beat the Cowboys next week, the Eagles will somehow win the division if they also beat the Redskins. There's much reason for hope in Philly right now.

But that whole notion is toppled if the Giants win on Christmas Eve, because the Eagles will be -- literally -- eliminated from playoff contention with a Giants victory. And a Giants win also means the Cowboys can't clinch until Week 17 anyway, when they play the Giants. (Even with a victory, the Cowboys would be 9-6 and the Giants would be 8-7; Week 16 is irrelevant for the NFC East if they both win on Sunday.)

Confused? Excellent. But all you really know, as it relates to the Cowboys game plan, is that Felix Jones won't be playing unless the Cowboys have a chance to lock up the NFC East, and even then he'll probably only play a few snaps.

4 p.m. ET games: SD-DET | PHI-DAL | SF-SEAT.J. Yates was a heck of a story -- a rookie quarterback, drafted in the fifth round, the only Carolina quarterback to start an NFL game -- for a few weeks when the Texans were winning. Now, after two straight losses to the Panthers and Colts, he's the chief concern for the people of Houston.

"Oh yeah, he’s done a lot of good things," Kubiak said when asked point-blank if Yates was starting. "I think T.J. continues to do some good things. I think he continues to get better, and like I said, for where we're heading here, he needs to continue to get better, and we just got to trust him and move forward."

The issue isn't so much Yates as it is the defense, however. The Texans have scored just 29 points in the last two games, but they've allowed 47 points after a stretch of seven-straight games where they didn't allow a team to score more than 20 points.

Yates' decision making needs to improve -- he fumbled against the Colts -- but it's not like he's making a pile of mistakes. Two interceptions against the Panthers were quite costly, but the Texans were losing and he still completed well over 50 percent of his passes. Against the Colts, Yates was 13 of 16.

The offense is more limited because a rookie quarterback's under center, but that's a pretty basic fact of life when you plug a young guy like Yates in with just a few weeks left in the season. The Texans wouldn't become an aerial assault team just because Delhomme or Garcia started taking snaps.

A simpler solution that would've kept these issues from surfacing? Stopping Dan Orlavsky from driving 78 yards in less than two minutes.